Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
8
Responses to crisis should include:
1. A coordinated response between public and private sector bodies, following the pre-
prepared plan of the local or national crisis management task force.
2. Repairs to infrastructural damage to ensure normal functioning of tourism as quickly as
possible.
3. Increased marketing, including familiarisation trips and other promotional efforts,
using optimistic messages which focus on positive aspects of the destination. If
necessary, engage a specialist PR firm.
4. Circulation of businesses’ own information on the crisis and recovery to complement
information being disseminated by the lead government agency and tourism task-force,
and to counter the spread of “fake news” on social media.
5. Targeting of less crisis-sensitive markets and segments (e.g. domestic and diaspora) in
order to ensure business viability.
6. Improvements to security (especially in the case of political upheaval or terrorist
attacks).
7. Strengthened public/private partnerships and cooperation.
8. Fiscal and monetary measures by government such as subsidies or tax holidays to
reduce business costs and help avoid redundancies.
Phase 5: Post-crisis Recovery (long term)
The intermediate stages of crisis management will evolve into longer term measures in six key
areas:
1. Plan for infrastructural improvements.
2. Adjust investment conditions through fiscal and other incentives to influence the scale and
timing of future investments
3. Increase professionalism in tourismandhospitality, particularly to ensure that local people
have the skills to access jobs at all levels of the industry, as well as training frontline
personnel in safety and security procedures
4. Address market perceptions to rebuild destination image through regular updates on
websites and Facebook pages about recovery, news of activities or festivals, familiarisation
trips for journalists and bloggers, or webcams in key locations showing that the area is safe.
Comments should be accurate and positive and focus not just on individual businesses but
also other local businesses to show an active, cohesive and attractive destination worth
visiting. Islamic countries may wish to highlight traditions of welcome and hospitality and
other aspects of cultural and natural heritage.
5. The crisis may break the established mould of tourism, creating opportunities to develop
in new directions. Emerging trends, markets and new trade links should be reviewed and
can be more readily exploited at this stage. Targeting prior visitors, neighbouring country
tourists and segments that are less susceptible to political unrest or disease outbreaks can
be effective. Individual businesses should work closely with the local DMO to ensure
consistency of message.